Dalton deceit
by Kerriss
Summary: Dalton is very proud of it's zero bullying policy but is the school really as safe as everyone believes? What happens when Kurt starts getting unwelcome text messages? Set before Original Song with Kurt at Dalton but not dating Blaine. Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or any of it's characters.
1. Chapter 1

**This is one of three stories (along with 'Trust in me' and 'New friends') which I have published the first chapter of, whichever one gets the most reviews will be the priority for updating. **

Arriving in the history classroom two seconds before the teacher was generally not a good idea but clearly Mrs Buchanan was in a good mood today and merely nodded in greeting before moving over to her desk. Sitting down quickly in his assigned seat, taking deep breaths to try and bring his heart beat back to normal range Kurt took a second to scan the room while opening his satchel for his books. Unsurprisingly his gaze quickly landed on Blaine sitting two rows in front and just slightly over to the left, as the other boy turned round clearly searching him out with concerned eyes.

"Everything OK?" he mouths.

Nodding his head with a look that says I'll tell you later, Kurt turned his focus to the history teacher and Blaine did the same.

As the lesson ends Blaine waited by the door for Kurt and the two of them walked towards the language department together where Kurt had French and Blaine was off to Italian.

"Why were you so late? I was starting to worry."

"Well you know how much I hate calculus"

"You may have mentioned that once or twice," Blaine commented laughing gently.

"Well apparently calculus hates me just as much. Mr Reid has told me I have to get my grade up to at least a B before midterms or I won't even be allowed to sit the exam."

"Wow that's quite a threat. What did you get for the last assessment?"

"C minus" Blaine pulled a face of disgust. "Yep, that's pretty much how I feel. It's not my fault, I've never done half this stuff and so I'm pretty much trying to teach myself the earlier stuff while staying on top of the current work." This time Blaine laughed out loud.

"I'm sorry but that is the most ridiculous plan I've ever heard. You can't do it all by yourself. Let me have a think about who would be best to tutor you and we can set something up. In the meantime don't dwell on it, we'll get it sorted." They've reached the French classroom but Blaine grabs Kurt's arm as he was about to go through the door, "Oh and Kurt, next time you're struggling tell me, you shouldn't try to do everything alone!"

By the time French is finished Kurt is feeling much more optimistic, of course Blaine would have a plan, of course someone would be able to tutor him and not because they are forced to but because they genuinely want to help. It's been two months since Kurt transferred to Dalton and it's the best decision he ever made. He came for the zero-tolerance policy like so many of the boys did but what he's found is a group of boys with a genuine desire to learn. It's so refreshing not to feel forced to hide your thoughts and opinions, to be able to ask questions and get involved in debates about the important parts of the curriculum. It's also amazing how friendly everyone is especially now he's a Warbler. Blaine wasn't kidding when he said the Warblers are like rockstars, random students talk to him and high five him as he walks down the corridor and every performance they give is well attended, even the ones that take place outside of school hours.

Kurt was deep in thought he didn't even notice the other boy until he felt himself knocked back by the force of something.

"Ow, that hurt, can't you look where you're going?" said a very annoyed blonde who was now kneeling on the floor scooping up sheets of paper.

"I'm so sorry, I was thinking about stuff. Here let me help you." His face is beetroot with embarrassment because clearly the sheets he's picked up belong to some kind of science report and now he's knocked everything out of order. "Do you need some help putting this all back in order because I have English now but I can help you during lunch?" he said trying to be as helpful as possible.

"No it's fine, I have a study period now, I can sort it." It's only then that Kurt actually looks at the boy and realises it's one of the Warblers.

"It's Nathan isn't it," the boy nods in acknowledgment. "Well again, I'm really sorry and if you need any help to sort it out let me know."

"Mr Hummel, were you planning on joining us today or are you conducting some kind of sit down protest in the corridor?" Mrs Matthews, the English teacher, is standing at the door glowering at the two boys but Kurt can see her lips twitching and a smile behind her eyes however he knows better than to push it. With a pat on the shoulder to Nathan Kurt stands and walks quickly into the classroom where most of the boys are laughing and smiling at the teacher's comments, clearly wondering what on earth he had been doing.

…..

It's moments before the end of the lesson and while Mrs Matthews had made several jokes at Kurt's expense including inviting him to choose an area of the floor to work on should he feel more comfortable, she hasn't actually said anything about him technically being late for her lesson so he's pretty sure he's not actually in trouble. The teacher reminds them about their book analysis which is due on Thursday (no extensions) before dismissing them for lunch.

Just as Kurt stands to put his books inside his satchel he feels his phone vibrate. He pulls it out as he walks into the corridor figuring it will be Blaine telling him he wants to go off campus for lunch but it's not a number he recognises, maybe one of New Directions got a new number and forgot to mention it. He's even more confused when he reads the message.

_Peek a boo, I see you!_

Kurt looks again to see if he recognises the number (even though he knows he doesn't). At that moment another text comes through, this one is from Blaine telling him to meet him at the parking lot so Kurt assumes the other text was a wrong number and sets off to find Blaine.

….

It's two days later and Kurt is thoroughly bored sitting in a Warblers rehearsal. They have been rehearing the bass and 2nd tenor part for pretty much the entire rehearsal and Blaine and Wes have been off in another room running through some possibilities for sectionals so there is nothing for Kurt to do. He's sent off a few texts to the New Direction girls but no one is answering, probably because they are in Glee right now too. He is on the verge of taking out his chemistry homework and getting started on that when Wes and Blaine come back and announce they are moving on to work on 'Raise your Glass'.

After twenty minutes Wes announced that rehearsal was over and Blaine flops down on the sofa next to Kurt clearly exhausted.

"Thank goodness it's nearly dinner time, I'm starving."

"Oh poor you," Kurt pats his arm to console the lead warbler because it's not like he can kiss him or anything!

"You want to watch a movie later? I don't think my brain is up to much homework tonight." Laughs Blaine.

"Sorry I have a date with Nick and chemistry! Maybe we can do something tomorrow night." Just as Kurt finishes speaking his phone chimes with a text message. As they both stand up and gather their belongings Kurt opens the message and lets out a squeak, almost dropping the phone in surprise.

I'm starving, is it nearly dinner time?

He glances up and realises that Blaine is staring at him with concern, "Everything OK?"

"Fine, why?" Kurt's attempt to brush off the concern are not going to work today.

"Well you've gone really pale and you made a really strange noise when you looked at your phone, it's a logical conclusion that you got a message that upset you." Blaine's voice remains calm as he speaks but his eyebrows are raised expectantly and his eyes wide encouraging a response.

"Just Mercedes announcing a cute new guy has started at McKinley." Kurt's not sure why he lied but as Blaine turns away he looks at his phone again and confirms that yes, the number is the one that sent him the text a few days ago. However that's not what surprised him, it's the fact that the text echoes the words Blaine said only moments ago. It could all be a coincidence, it is clearly a coincidence but something about it unsettles him.

…..

There was lots of noise in the Warbler room as everyone picked up their stuff, getting ready to leave but Kurt didn't hear them, he was still freaked out from the message, he thought that maybe he should send a message back and tell the person they are contacting the wrong number. He suddenly stopped as he realised that's the answer. He quickly typed a message and popped his phone back in his pocket but it chimed again seconds later. Curiously he pulled it out and looked at the screen,

No I don't think this is the wrong number, do you Kurt?

Blindly he followed Blaine, Nick and Jeff over to the dorms to drop off their bags as there is still 30 minutes until dinner. The three boys were chatting away but Kurt was now completely freaking out, clearly the messages were meant for him and it's creepy. Feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket Kurt pulled it out and it's from the same number,

How are you doing Kurt? Having fun yet?

It's not threatening or abusive but he felts his heart racing as he read the message again and again leaning against the wall as his legs threated to give way. Of course he hasn't noticed that the other three boys have stopped and are looking at him and each other curiously. A pair of strong arms surround him and pull him close offering the support his own body seems to have lost. Gulping deep breaths Kurt managed to steady himself before gently pushing Blaine away and picking up his satchel which had slid off his shoulder at some point.

"What's the matter?" Nick asks softly as he moves next to him.

"It's nothing, c'mon let's get these bags dropped off," Kurt's reply was supposed to sound confident and sure but even he knows no one is buying it.

He takes a few steps but his path is blocked by Blaine who can see through most of his masks. "Kurt," he says clearly trying to keep his tone even and assured, "that's the second time this afternoon you've turned pale and pretty much freaked out over a text so what's going on?"

He should just tell them the truth but he's embarrassed at reacting in such a stupid way to a text telling him that they have the right number.

"It's just a stupid message, it just surprised me. It's probably one of New Directions with a new phone number. I'll ask Mercedes later." With that Kurt sweeps past the other three boys and doesn't stop walking until he reaches his dorm where he threw his bag on the floor, hung his blazer on the back of his chair before collapsing face down on his bed feeling absolutely drained.

His mind was whirring with the last two messages and his reaction to them but it was totally illogical, just a cruel joke. He lay there trying to regulate his breathing when the door softly opened and he felt a weight next to him on his bed. Turning over he expected Blaine but was surprised that it was is roommate Nick instead.

Nick rubbed his arm gently, "Are you sure you're OK?"

"I'm fine, it's just been a long day. I think I'll just get the essential homework done tonight and have an early night. Maybe we can work on chemistry tomorrow"

"Sure, I'll go work in Jeff's room later, give you some peace. Do you want to change before dinner or are you staying in uniform?"

"Actually I think I might give dinner a miss, I'll just get through the work and get some sleep. Hopefully I'll feel more together come morning."

"Shall I bring you something up then?" Kurt shook his head and Nick looked right at him with a smirk, "You know if I don't bring you something Blaine will insist on doing it and then he'll want to stay to make sure you are alright."

"OK you're right, can you please bring me some soup or a salad, I really don't want anything heavy."

With a pat on the shoulder Nick left the room and Kurt changed into some jeans and a polo shirt, today was not a day for dressing up. After quickly shooting off a text to all of New Directions to ask who had the new phone number Kurt pulled out his French homework and decided to start with something he could complete quickly.

Half an hour later Kurt was just finishing off the last sentence of his French homework when Nick came back with a bowl of ceasar salad and a chicken wrap. Putting them both on Kurt's desk Nick simply says, "Blaine," and clearly that explains why he's brought so much. Without saying anything else Nick grabs his laptop and satchel with his school books, gives Kurt a quick hug and leaves to 'work' with Jeff.

Deciding he might as well get some more work done while he has the energy he manages to complete his history questions and half his English essay before he gives in and has the salad. As he ate he decided to check his phone and was surprised to find 20 messages and 3 missed calls. Looking through the messages he quickly realised that every member of New Directions had texted him (apart from Finn who had called) and they all pretty much say the same, they haven't changed their number and they don't know anyone in the glee club who has. The other 2 missed calls are from Blaine both asking is he is OK and needs anything. There were a few other texts from various boys about homework, an outing to go-karts if he's interested etc but nothing from the strange number and Kurt felt his body finally relax. He sent Blaine a quick text to thank him for sending Nick with the food and that he's going to bed as he doesn't feel well and then switched off his phone, he didn't want to think about the possibility of anymore text messages.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the lovely comments, I'm glad this has got so many of you hooked. It's a short chapter but I need to do some setting up for the next one.**

Things improved greatly over the next week for Kurt. Blaine had arranged for Thad to tutor him in calculus and amazingly it was starting to make sense, in fact Kurt was almost optimistic he could pass the upcoming test. His friendship with Blaine is continuing to grow along with his crush but the older boy seems quite happy to spend time with him as best friends so frankly Kurt will take what he can get. Kurt finally feels like he belongs at Dalton, apart from Blaine he is really friendly with Nick and Jeff and he knows all the Warblers by name and has made an effort to talk with each of them at least once.

On Sunday evening Kurt drove back up to Dalton from Lima having been home to celebrate Mercedes' birthday. New Directions had a big sleepover party for her at Rachel's house on Saturday night and Kurt felt like his cheeks still ached from having laughed so hard. He couldn't help smiling as he recalled the laughter, gossiping and drama which accompanies every New Direction event. There had been lots of performances, spontaneous duets and of course Santana had insisted on playing truth or dare. Frankly Kurt had been extremely glad that he hadn't suggested Blaine come to the party as between truth and dare and the girls questioning techniques he had been thoroughly grilled on their relationship.

Only Rachel had mentioned his text about new phone numbers and Kurt is pretty sure she thought one of the club had failed to inform her about their new contact details. Once Kurt had reassured her that no one had changed their number she of course wanted to know why he had asked. Brushing it off he told her he had received a few strange messages but neglected to mention that they had specifically mentioned his name. He had almost forgotten about the whole affair but now as he got closer to Dalton he could feel himself tensing again.

…..

As he stepped out of the car and picked up his bag his phone bleeped with a message and he reached into his pocket to see who it was from. His heart started to race as he recognised the number and while the logical part of his brain told him to ignore it curiosity got the better of him and he opened the message,

_From UNKNOWN: Did you have fun this weekend Kurt? Do you think anyone missed you while you were gone?_

Kurt quickly looked round trying to see who could have spotted him arriving. It was just starting to get dark and there was a cold wind blowing so not many people were wandering around. Starting to feel cold himself Kurt moved towards the front of Wilson House, the dorm that most of the Warblers were in, but he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched. As he walked the words from the message played in his mind, 'do you think anyone missed you?' the words taunted him as if to reiterate that maybe he wasn't as settled at Dalton as he thought. Without conscious thought he could feel tears trickling down his face as thoughts of the friends he had left at McKinley, the ones he had had so much fun with at the weekend danced before his mind and now he was back here where nobody missed him.

Once in the door he signed in and made his way to the stairs, he just wanted to get into his dorm room as quickly as possible. Just before he got to the stairs he reached the door for the common room he could hear Blaine, Nick and Jeff joking about and he was pretty sure he heard David's laugh which meant that Wes would be there too. He didn't want to talk to anyone so tried to go as quietly as he could but of course Jeff chose that moment to decide to leave for the bathroom and bumped straight into him.

"Kurt, you're back," he said excitedly. "We were just wondering when you were arriving." He grabbed Kurt into a big hug and pushed him flying into the common room while he rushed off to the bathroom. The rest of the group looked up to see what the commotion was and Blaine immediately came rushing over,

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Did you have an accident?..."

Nick shushed him and pulled the thin boy into a gentle hug. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I just need to go and drop my stuff off."

Blaine wasn't going to be brushed off so easily, "Why have you been crying then?"

"I just….it's not…..I wasn't….. it's just a really cold wind out there." He knew the answer made little sense but everyone seemed to accept it as they all stood back and let him leave. Of course, no one cared if he was there or not so it made sense they would listen to any stupid answer.

He had just opened his dorm door when he realised someone was behind him, he glanced round and Blaine was standing behind him, his deep hazel eyes full of concern. Following Kurt into the room the shorter boy sat down on Nick's bed and watched while Kurt took off his jacket and hung up the clothes he had taken home for the weekend. He felt very unnerved as Blaine sat in silence, his eyes never wavering from Kurt. Finally Kurt had finished and he took a seat on his own bed looking expectantly over to Blaine. Without a word the dark haired boy moved over to sit next to the countertenor and wrapped his arms around him. The two of them sit in silence for several minutes and Kurt felt his body slowly relaxing as he breathed in the familiar smell of Blaine's cologne, red vines and coffee.

Finally Blaine whispered, "I missed you this weekend," and Kurt immediately stiffened and pulled back from the strong arms. "What's wrong? That wasn't supposed to upset you," and it wass only then that Kurt felt slow tears running down his cheeks again. He dared a look at Blaine and the concern was evident in his warm eyes. "Kurt, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a stalker, I just …I just wanted you to know."

"It's fine…erm thank you. And for the record, I missed you too." All the time Kurt had spent being forced to retell conversations he had had with Blaine, coffee not-dates and movie nights had made him realise just how much he did enjoy spending time with the Warbler. Blaine had wrapped his arms back round him by this point and Kurt made a conscious effort not to let any more tears slip out. They sat in silence again until Kurt suddenly became overwhelmed by exhaustion. "Sorry but I've not had much sleep all weekend so if you don't mind I think I'll turn in now, otherwise I'm not sure I have enough concealer to cover the bags I'm going to have."

Blaine literally snorted at that last comment but one more big squeeze and he released the boy to start his moisturising routine. "OK sleeping beauty, I'll go. We'll probably all be downstairs for a while if you change your mind and I look forward to hearing about your busy weekend soon."

As soon as Blaine left Kurt lay down looking up at the ceiling taking deep breaths. It was good to be back, he did have friends here, well certainly he had Blaine here and Jeff and Nick had both seemed happy to see him. He changed into pyjamas and began his moisturizing routine listening to his i-pod play a random selection and as he rubbed cream into his face he could feel his body relax again. By the time Nick came back to the room Kurt was fast asleep


	3. Chapter 3

**So not much to say other than I hope you enjoy this update and any ideas on who it is yet? Oh and a warning that there's some minor swearing.**

Kurt woke to his alarm the next morning and quickly jumped in the shower before Nick did. Once he was finished in the bathroom Nick went in and Kurt got himself into his uniform and began to sort out textbooks and homework ready for Monday morning lessons. He had just heard the shower turn off when his phone made its familiar cheep to indicate a new text.

_From UNKNOWN: So how was your weekend? Did you get any new bruises?_

Kurt stared in disgust at the phone, it wasn't a secret he had moved to Dalton because of bullying but not that many students knew the extent of the problem. The seconds later another one arrived.

_From UNKNOWN: Did you tell your friends all about your epic crush?_

He stood frozen to the spot just staring at the screen as if that would somehow help when he suddenly felt a hand wrap around his right arm. Instinct took over and he swung his other arm round, twisting his body trying to escape from the threat, his hand holding his phone made contact with the something solid and blinking rapidly he realised he had just whacked Nick on the cheek.

"What the fuck! Shit Kurt, you've got some left hook!" The dark haired boy clutched the side of his face, tears watering in his eyes.

Coming out of his trance Kurt shoved his phone in his pocket before he pulled Nick's hand away to see the damage, "Oh my god Nick, I'm so sorry. Is your face going to bruise? I'll get you some ice, just hold on." With that Kurt ran out of the dorm and downstairs to the communal kitchen where there were always ice packs available. As Kurt made his way back upstairs his phone chirped again and with a sinking feeling Kurt pulled it out to read the new message.

_From UNKNOWN: You realise everyone at Dalton knows about your love for Blaine._

As Kurt arrived back in his dorm room he wasn't surprised to see Jeff sitting on the bed comforting Nick or Blaine standing looking anxiously between Nick and the door.

"Erm here's the ice," Kurt handed the ice pack to Jeff who grabbed it off him with a frown and pressed it against Nick's cheek. "Is it bad?"

"I'll live but remind me not to sneak up on you on a dark night!" Nick laughed trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"What the hell happened Kurt?" Blaine asked trying not to sound angry. One of his best friends had just punched the other and he had no idea why. He had been on his way to see if Kurt was ready for breakfast when Jeff had ran past muttering violent threats and he had followed him.

"I just….I didn't mean…."

"It was my fault," Nick cut in. "Kurt looked upset and I wanted to see if he was alright but I didn't want to scare him so instead of saying something I touched his arm to get his attention and it had the opposite effect!"

"So you just hit him because he was caring about you. That's so twisted Kurt. You should really report it babe," Jeff was furious with the new boy, how dare he hurt his precious Nick.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to it was just a reflex. Nick I'm so sorry but Jeff's right, you should report it. Zero tolerance and all that jazz!" With that Kurt grabbed his bag and ran out of the room. The other three boys looked at each other in confusion. Blaine sat down on Kurt's bed and ran his hands over his face, none of this made sense.

"I'm not reporting anything Jeff," Nick said firmly. "Look I don't know what was going on with Kurt but he looked really scared. He didn't mean to hurt me, I'm quite sure of that."

Blaine let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding. If Nick did report it there was a chance Kurt would be expelled and he couldn't bare to see that happen. Then another thought occurred to him, "Nick, what was Kurt doing when you approached him?"

"Well I had just come out of the bathroom and he was standing in the middle of the room with his phone in his hand."

"Do you have any idea if he had had a call or a text?"

"I don't know sorry, I had been in the shower so didn't hear anything. Why are you asking?"

"I just wondered if everything is OK at home, you know his dad has a bad heart and he's always worrying about him."

"Yeah but surely if it was something like that he would have told us or been curled up on his bed crying," Jeff's logical thinking had kicked in and he was starting to feel a bit more compassion for the transfer student. "It's more likely he got a message from one of his old friends and he was missing them, you know he's always a bit emotional the first few days after a visit home."

"True, let's just keep an eye on him and see if he needs anything," replied Nick. "Now you two had better get down to the dining room and get my breakfast organised while I finish getting dressed. Oh and Jeff you need to apologise to Kurt for scaring him with threats of me reporting this. I don't want him going through the day thinking he's about to be kicked out. Now shoo, both of you."

Jeff leaned over and kissed Nick's cheek as Blaine moved towards the door. As the two boys made their way out to the courtyard and over to the dining room Blaine looked round trying to spot Kurt.

"Do you think he'll come?" asked Jeff

"Who, Kurt?"

"Yeah, if I don't apologise then Nick's going to make me suffer!" laughed Jeff, "Besides I didn't mean to scare him, I was just upset about Nick."

"I'm hoping he's in the dining room having coffee but in all honesty I doubt it. But if he's not there then I'm not sure where to look for him."

The boys fell into a silence and as Blaine predicted there was no sign of Kurt. They sat down with a few of the other Warblers waiting for Nick and Kurt to join them.

….

As predicted Kurt was not in the dining room, he was sitting on a bench underneath a large oak tree near the back of the grounds. It was as far away from the dorms and the dining room as he could find but still close enough he would hear the bell when it rang. He felt absolutely wrecked, Nick was hurt, Jeff hated him and Blaine thought he was a complete lunatic. He was desperately trying to calm himself down before facing his first class when he heard his phone cheep with an incoming message. Without really thinking about it he unlocked his phone and read the message:

_From UNKNOWN: You know Blaine's just being nice, he doesn't want you. So again, do you think anyone missed you this weekend?_

Tears streamed down his face as he read the hateful message and he threw the phone down on the bench yelling "Stop it, stop it," repeatedly at nothing in particular. He could feel the bile rising in his throat and he threw off his blazer and tie trying desperately to achieve some level of control in his breathing as he could feel his breath becoming shallow. All his fears and insecurities were coming back to haunt him and before he knew it he as bent over bringing up the contents of his stomach. Somewhere among the noise of his retching and the distance calls of boys making their way to the school buildings Kurt heard the distinct ring of the school bell. Making a snap decision he grabbed his blazer and tie and made his way back to the dorms, he was in no shape physically or mentally to face lessons today.

…

Nick had arrived in the dining hall a few minutes after Jeff and Blaine and joined them once he had grabbed some toast and coffee. Immediately Jeff pulled him into a tight hug, "Your face looks a lot better, it's barely marked at all."

"I know, guess I got lucky. Erm where's Kurt?"

Blaine looked round again frowning, "Don't know, I guess he needed some time to calm down. I've got history with him second lesson so I can check on him then."

Nick pulled out his phone, "Maybe I should just call him, make sure he's alright. He needs to know he hasn't done any lasting damage."

Blaine shook his head, "Give him some time, he needs to process what happened and we still need to find out what upset him to start with. A quick call isn't going to be enough. I'll see him in class and let him know you're fine and then we can sit down this evening and talk about what happened calmly."

Quickly agreeing Nick ate his toast while Jeff complained about his crazy roommate Matthew and his most recent stunt involving rearranging all the furniture. Just as he finished explaining how it had taken until 11 the night before to get everything back where it should be the warning bell rang and the boys parted for their first classes of the day.


	4. Chapter 4

**So it turns out that working on three stories with the same location and characters at the same time is pretty confusing! I hope this continues to make sense and we are heading to a climax but I need Kurt to suffer more (sorry Kurt) before we get there.**

Blaine rushed to history, eager to check up on Kurt. He had only know the slight boy for a short time but he had made a big impression on him and he really cared about him. Watching students coming into class in small groups Blaine thought through what he could say to reassure Kurt about what had happened this morning, he knew the boy was worried about his roommate but also about Nick's reaction.

"Hey Blaine," the tenor turned and saw Matthew, Jeff's roommate crouching next to him, "Have you seen Kurt? He tried to catch him after his calculus class but I must have missed him."

"He should be along shortly. Did you want him for something?"

"Yeah, I'm having some trouble with French and Jeff mentioned he is pretty much fluent so I was hoping he would tutor me a bit."

"Well I'm sure he can help you out." Just as Blaine finished the teacher came in and the lesson began. After ten minutes and with no sign of the young boy Blaine pulled out his phone to text Kurt and find out where he was but luck was not on his side as Mrs Buchanan walked past his desk just as he did and took the phone from his hand.

"See me at the end of the lesson Mr Anderson," she said quietly before continuing the lesson. Blaine sat up straight trying to pay attention but was desperately worried about Kurt. The young boy had gone through so much at McKinley and now thought his friends were so mad at him it was better to cut class than face them.

….

Kurt collapsed on his bed when he got back to the dorm room. He lay there face down crying into his pillow letting all the emotion of the morning flow out of him. Cutting class was not a good idea but he knew there was no way he would be able to concentrate and he certainly couldn't deal with talking to anyone.

After some time the sobbing subsided and he was able to sit up and think rationally again. He had missed most of his first lesson but he could make it to history if he hurried. He was on his way to the bathroom to assess the damage to his face when he remembered that history was with Blaine and he really could not deal with the gorgeous boy this morning. He decided he would just go to the library and work in there until after morning break when he had French and the art, he wasn't with Blaine in any of those (although Jeff was in art with him – damn why couldn't he have classes with no one he knew!) Looking in the mirror was not as bad as he had feared, his eyes were still red and puffy but the damage was already calming down and while it was obvious he had been crying by the time French started he should be fine.

He made his way over to the library without having to talk to anyone. There were always students wandering around going between classes and on study periods so it was not strange to see students between classes. Once in the library he found an empty table in the back corner, put in his headphones and set about finishing off an essay for English. Focussed on his work he didn't notice his phone flashing as each new message came in.

….

After class Blaine tried repeatedly to call Kurt but he got his voice mail each time, Mrs Buchanan had made him wait until every student had left the room before lecturing him on attempting to use his phone during class. Luckily for Blaine she felt that as he was usually a good student he deserved another chance and she gave him back his phone warning him not to try using it in her lessons again. The dark haired boy was wondering whether the five minute break before the next lesson would be enough time to run over to the dorms to check on Kurt when he spotted the very boy coming down the hallway munching on a cereal bar.

"Kurt!" he shouted. The other boy looked up in surprise and turned as if to run away when Nick and Jeff appeared on either side of him and Nick wrapped his arms around the boy's slight frame in a giant hug. Blaine made his way over and took Kurt's hand in his once Nick had pulled back. "Where have you been, I was so worried in history."

"What do you mean?" asked Nick looking between Kurt and Blaine.

"Erm, I haven't been in class this morning," replied Kurt quietly.

"Please don't tell me you're still upset about what happened. I sent you a message to tell you I was fine, everything is fine."

"I got sick so I went back to the room to lie down," Kurt pulled out his phone as he spoke.

_From Nick: No bruise, don't worry, all's good. CU at lunch._

_From UNKNOWN: I hear McKinley Titans are slacking on training. They need another punchbag!_

Kurt read the two messages and his heart sank. Aware that the other three boys were watching him Kurt put on his best (fake) smile. "Thanks Nick, I'm really glad there's no lasting damage and again I'm sorry for what happened."

"Speaking of that we still don't really know what happened," Blaine said slightly hesitantly. "What made you react like that?" At that moment Kurt got another text;

_From UNKNOWN: Know any volunteers?_

Suddenly the cereal bar Kurt had just eaten didn't feel so comfortable in his stomach and his heart was racing. He didn't want the others to see he was upset but was saved by the warning bell ringing. "Bathroom," Kurt mumbled and ran off to the nearest rest room. The other three boys looked at each other in confusion, what on earth was wrong with Kurt?

"Look you two go to class and I'll check on him," said Blaine. "See you at lunch." He turned and quickly headed into the room behind Kurt leaving Nick and Jeff looking stunned. The bathroom door closed quietly behind Blaine and he could hear retching coming from one of the stalls. Opening his bag he took out an unopened bottle of water and when the tall door opened he handed it to Kurt along with a wet paper towel to wipe his mouth. With a small smile of thanks Kurt wiped his face and rinsed his mouth with the water.

"Maybe you should go and see the nurse."

"No, I'll be fine. It's just proving to be a bitch of a day," the blue eyed boy replied. "C'mon or we're both going to be late for class." Kurt was out the door before Blaine had a chance to say anything and despite the fact they were both heading in the same direction Kurt was out of sight before Blaine exited the bathroom. The curly haired boy was determined to find out what was going on with his friend but clearly it wasn't going to be an easy task.

….

By lunchtime everything was back to normal, or at least everyone was pretending it was! Kurt had art with Jeff just before lunch and while he would have preferred to avoid the dining hall the blonde Warbler was not going to let him disappear. They had not mentioned what had happened that morning but had worked well together on a landscape painting, enjoying each other's company so any animosity or anger had been laid to rest.

Just as they reached the dining room Kurt felt his phone vibrate with a message and he indicated to Jeff to go ahead while he checked it.

From UNKNOWN: It's amazing how girly the Dalton uniform can look on the wrong person.

Kurt glanced around, looking to see if anyone was watching but as usual he saw no one. With his voice and fashion sense he was often compared to a girl but he had told very few people how uncomfortable it made him feel so this message in many ways hit him harder than the others. Glancing round again he saw Jeff standing waiting on him so he quickly grabbed a bowl of soup, his stomach already churning from the message and went to join him.

They made their way to a table where Nick, Blaine, Wes and David were already sitting and Nick immediately leaned over and pulled Jeff into the seat next to him giving him a quick kiss. This left Kurt sitting between Blaine and David, who was engaged in some whispered conversation with Wes. Kurt sat down and smiled at Blaine, frowning at the strange look Blaine was giving him.

"What?" he asked after several uncomfortable minutes where he had felt Blaine repeatedly watching him.

Leaning over so the rest of the table didn't hear Blaine quietly asked, "Is that all you're having for lunch?"

"Yes, well I'm not that hungry. What does it matter to you anyway?" Kurt could feel his walls building up again.

Pulling back slightly Blaine noticed the change in Kurt's body language, "Hey, I don't want to fight with you, it's just you didn't come to breakfast and you threw up the cereal bar you had earlier. I just don't want to see you passing out."

"Thanks but I'll be fine. I promise to finish the whole bowl of soup." Kurt smiled and they both felt the tension ease.

As the lunch break went on the boys chatted away among themselves and true to his word Kurt finished the soup and even stole a few fries from Blaine's plate. With a few minutes to go before the bells the group were talking about maybe heading into town after school for coffee when Kurt felt his phone vibrate twice with new messages. Part of him screamed to ignore them but another part of his head reasoned that it could be his dad or Finn or Mercedes just as easily as the unknown number.

"Kurt…Kurt….hey are you OK?" he looked up to see five pairs of eyes watching him with looks ranging from worried to amused. He blinked looking at Blaine who gave him a half smile, "you kinda zoned out on us there, you OK?"

Unwilling to look at his phone in front of the group he quickly stood up, lifting his tray to clear it and popping his bag over his shoulder, "I'm fine…I just need to …visit the bathroom before class. Erm, see you all later." With that he quickly crossed the room, deposited his tray in the correct location and found the nearest empty classroom to hide in and check his phone.

Blaine watched Kurt leave the room unable to shake the uneasy feeling that something was going on with his friend. As he turned back to the table he saw Nick's head turned away as if also watching where the slight boy had gone, perhaps he wasn't the only one worried.

**So any ideas for texts that 'Unknown' might send Kurt, I'm really too nice to be writing this type of story and I'm running low on insults!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, it's been a while but I know many of you are following my other fics too so you'll know that they've been updated first. The good news is the next part of this is about half written so you hopefully won't have too long until the next update when things really heat up!**

Having locked the door of the classroom Kurt sat down on one of the desks and pulled his phone out. It was flashing with two messages and his heart was beating fast as he unlocked the screen to read.

From UNKNOWN: Hey Kurt, Jeff said u could help me with French. R U free after class for a chat. Matthew.

From MERCEDES: Hi Boo, Everything good with you? Haven't heard from you for a while, Skype later? xxx

Kurt felt his whole body sag with relief, there were no hateful messages, just the usual friendly texts from friends. Tears ran down his cheeks as he relaxed for the first time that day. Before he could do anything else the warning bell rang and he quickly texted Mercedes with a 'Skype 7pm?' before heading off to chemistry which was at the other side of the building.

When he got to chemistry Nick was in his seating waiting for him. Immediately the dark haired Warbler's eyes crinkled in concern and he grabbed Kurt's wrist to pull him swiftly into his seat. "You've been crying," he said without any preamble, it wasn't a statement rather a question that required an answer.

Lifting his hand to swipe across his cheeks Kurt could feel that indeed they were wet but he wasn't quite sure when it had happened. "I'm fine, I just…" and any excuse he was going to give was promptly dropped as Dr Morris entered the room and immediately launched into a lecture on the correct use of grammar in scientific reports.

Kurt's mood continued to drop as he felt Nick constantly watching him throughout the class, a few times he turned his head mouthing, "What?" but didn't want to get in trouble from Dr Morris for actually yelling. With fifteen minutes to go before the end the teacher told them to swap papers with the person beside them and help each other edit their reports. Nick passed his paper over to Kurt before pulling the blue eyed boys report towards him and whispered, "Read it carefully."

With a look of surprise Kurt turned over the paper and begins to read 'The effects of bad mood on friendship.' This gets Kurt's attention because they were supposed to be analysing the effect of temperature on various chemicals. He glanced over at Nick and could see a small smile on his friend's lips, the dark haired boy looked up and met Kurt's eyes briefly before nodding back to the paper.

After reading through the list of necessary resources (including various friends, movies, popcorn and cheesecake) Nick had written an explanation of what the experiment was hoping to achieve – To ensure our friend knows that we love him and we are always available to make him feel better and support him in difficult times. Even before he reached the method they were going to use Kurt felt his eyes watering again but taking a deep breath he read on.

_Instructions for experiment_

_1) Administer hugs at regular intervals throughout the day._

_2) Take turns to share how amazing the friend is (and he is awesome)_

_3) Set up movie night with all friends involving suitable snacks and films_

_4) When the mood around said friend drops others should make it known that they are available for listening or distraction tasks._

Before Kurt could get right to the end of the paper Dr Morris announced that the class was over and dismissed the boys to their final lesson of the day. Kurt appeared to be frozen in his seat as he just stared at the piece of paper in his hand but was unable to focus on any of the words. As Nick finished packing up his things, minus his 'science report' he quickly sent a text to Blaine and Jeff suggesting that they have a movie night before he moved over and wrapped his arms around Kurt's shoulders. "C'mon, just one more class and then Warblers to get through."

"Thank you, it's great," Kurt managed to choke out through his tears. "It does mean you have extra homework though." Laughing at Nick's confused expression he continued, "Well unless you worked very quickly you have your whole science report to do tonight."

"It was worth it to get you to smile!" Kurt turned and hugged the Warbler back. "Besides, I planned on just copying yours, it's really good!" and on that note Nick left to head towards his next class.

...

As Kurt got back to his room after a thankfully uneventful final class and Warblers practise he finally felt he could breathe freely. He hadn't had any horrible messages since the morning and it wasn't something he wanted to think about. Finishing his dinner quickly he slipped out of the dining hall and rushed up to his room to get ready for his skype date with Mercedes. He was a few minutes early when he remembered the message from Matthew asking him to tutor him in French. He sent back a quick text agreeing to tutor him the next day during lunch and when he looked again at his laptop Mercedes was already logged in.

As he chatted to Mercedes he felt bad that he didn't want to tell her about the texts but he knew no one should know about them. It meant he cut the conversation short as the guilt was playing on his mind but he promised to call her once he was home for the weekend to arrange a meet up. Just as the conversation finished Nick came back into the dorm, "Get changed into your PJs," he said, "We're having a movie night in Jeff's room."

The two boys quickly got changed and headed to the other dorm room where Jeff and Blaine had already set out bowls of popcorn, chips and fruit along with numerous bottles of soda and water. Matthew, Jeff's roommate was also there along with Blaine's roommate Trent. Nick and Jeff cuddled up on Jeff's bed and Trent lay on the other bed with Matthew which left Kurt and Blaine to sit together on the sofa. Jeff and Matthew pulled rank since it was their room and so the group settled down to watch Star Wars, A New Hope and then they took turns putting on YouTube videos as there wasn't time for another movie. The boys laughed and joked and the tears running down Kurt's face came from truly enjoying himself rather than the turmoil he had felt over the last few days.

As the boys separated to go back to their own rooms Kurt made sure he gave both Jeff and Nick a huge hug each and whispered 'thank you' to each of them. He and Blaine walked along towards their own dorms, leaving Nick to say goodnight to Jeff. As Blaine stopped to unlock his door Kurt wrapped his arms around the tenor's shoulders and murmured in his ear, "Thank you for putting up with me, I know I've been a pain."

Blaine turned round with a huge smile and pulled Kurt tight to him, "I'm here, anytime you need me remember that."

"I will," Nick arrived and waited by Kurt, "See you in the morning Blaine." As the roommates moved down the corridor towards their door nobody noticed the boy watching from the side, knuckles white with anger as he watched the friends.

…

Over the rest of the week Kurt began to feel more positive again. He had only received two nasty text messages and while he still avoided reading his texts in front of his friends he didn't feel as frightened everytime his phone cheeped with a message. Thanks to Thad's tutoring in calculus he had almost caught up with the rest of the class and actually got a B in his latest test and his tutoring of Matthew in French was going well.

Arriving back at Dalton after being home with his girls for the weekend Kurt suddenly felt his stomach churning, a new week so was this when the messages started again? He made his way into the dorm building and up to the room he shared with Nick. Just before he reached the door he heard someone call his name and turned around to see Nathan, the freshman he had literally bumped into a week ago, making his way along the corridor towards him.

"Hey Nathan, how are you?"

"Erm, yeah I'm fine. I'm glad I saw you, I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, what can I do for you?"

"It's kind of embarrassing," Kurt looked at him concerned but before he could say anything Nathan continued, "I've had this history assignment for two weeks and I kept putting it off because I didn't understand and I kept meaning to ask Mr Rosen but I never remembered and I don't really want to ask my friends because they all said how easy it was and now it's due….."

"Nathan breathe… would you like me to help you with your assignment?"

Letting out a huge sigh of relief Nathan smiled at Kurt, "Yes please, I mean if you have time, you don't need to help me with the whole thing just if you could explain what it is that I'm supposed to do and maybe…."

Kurt laughed at the look on Nathan's face as he continued to babble, "We really need to work on your breathing ability! Look tell me your room number and I'll come over in about 20 minutes once I've unpacked."

"Thank you so much Kurt, I really appreciate this. I'm in room 128, it's just down the corridor on the right and….."

"OK, you go practise breathing and I'll see you soon." Still smiling at the nervous teenager's rambling Kurt opened the door to his room and immediately found himself under a pile of boys. As they slowly got off him Kurt realised that as well as Nick and Jeff, Blaine, Matthew and Trent were all there too.

"Finally Kurt! Matthew saw you walk into the building about 10 minutes ago, get lost on the way up did you?" teased Nick.

"Did you bring us any cookies?" asked Jeff with Trent nodding behind him.

"Do you know I'm starting to think the only reason anyone talks to me in this place is because they want something!" Kurt replied with a grin while pulling out a box of chocolate chip cookies he had made that morning.

"No, we talk to you for your sparkling personality too," Blaine said pulling Kurt into a tight hug. Pushing him back slightly Blaine's eyes flickered over Kurt's face looking for any trace of worry. Jeff tossed Blaine a cookie forcing him to let go of Kurt to catch it, he held one up to Kurt who shook his head and began to unpack his bag. After a few minutes of quiet munching Nick got out his laptop and set it up on his desk.

"So Kurt, now you're here we can begin our movie night. We can't decide between Shrek or Top Gun and you get the deciding vote."

By this time Kurt had finished unpacking and was sorting through his homework piled on his desk trying to work out what he needed to put in his bag for the next morning. Looking up as Nick finished speaking Kurt looked round at his friends in regret, he'd love to stay but he made a promise so he shook his head, "Sorry but I can't stay, I said I'd help someone with an assignment. In fact I'd better go, I won't be too long I hope."

As Kurt left the room the door opened behind him and Blaine, Nick and Jeff called to him telling him to stay. "Guys I'd love to stay but I made a promise, I'll try not to be too long."

"But we're doing this for you," Jeff blurted out.

"What do you mean?"

Nick punched Jeff in the arm in annoyance while Blaine took a large breath and explained, "We were just a bit worried about you last week and wanted to make sure we spent time with you."

Kurt didn't know why this annoyed him so much, his friends wanted to be with him which was good but they were trying to guilt trip him into doing what they wanted, "I'm not some charity case, I don't need constantly watched and I made an arrangement with someone else so now I'm going to keep to it. Goodnight!" With that Kurt stormed off down the corridor fighting back tears while his three best friends looked on in confusion.

…

In the end the history assignment hadn't taken too long and Nathan had listened carefully to Kurt's explanations. The freshman was very friendly and told Kurt repeatedly how much he appreciated his help, so much so that after 45 minutes the junior was desperate to leave. Once he was sure Nathan understood Kurt excused himself with the pretext that he had some homework of his own to do and once out in the corridor he realised he didn't know where to go. His friends were angry with him for leaving them and while he could acknowledge that he shouldn't have shouted at them and stormed out he also didn't feel like apologising right away.

With a sudden change of direction Kurt made his way out into the grounds to take a walk and hopefully clear his head. His friends were doing what they thought was best, showing him that he was not alone but in that moment he needed some peace. The air was chilled around him and he cursed that he didn't have a jacket with him but again he didn't want to go back to the dorm to get one.

He arrived at a wooden bench underneath a big oak tree that he and Blaine often sat at when they were outside. Curling up tight with his back against the trunk there was at least a little respite from the icy breeze. Kurt sat in silence, breathing deeply and trying to calm his racing mind. He reflected that had he been at home then this would have been the ideal time to get out his mat and work through some calming yoga poses but he hadn't found a suitable space to use since arriving at Dalton. He contemplated going back to his dorm room and throwing everyone out so he could use the space there, it wasn't really big enough but if he was careful it would do, however he knew Nick would insist on staying and right now he needed solitude.

In the end it wasn't the cold that sent him back inside but rather the realisation that he did indeed have half a page of calculus equations which needed solved by the next morning. As he stood up Kurt heard the familiar cheep of an incoming text and pulled out his phone knowing that Nick or Blaine were probably looking for him by now. His heart sank as he saw the familiar 'Unknown' flash up the screen. As always his finger hesitated over the delete button but curiosity always stopped him and he pressed the button to read the message.

From UNKNOWN: I heard Crawford now have a space in your year group, you can start this week.

Almost immediately another one arrived.

From UNKNOWN: You'll be so much happier with your own kind. The girls will love you.

Kurt had never believed people who claimed that they just saw red and anger took over but in that moment he broke his promise to himself of not rising to the bullies and he replied.

From Kurt: What's your problem? Leave me the fuck alone.

From UNKNOWN: My problem is you, little miss prissy. Go back to where you came from princess.

From Kurt: Who are you? What have I done to you?

From UNNKNOWN: You fucked up my perfect world.

From Kurt: How? Who are you?

From UNKNOWN: You exist, that's enough to fuck everything up.

Kurt flopped back down on the bench. This person was getting angry and he didn't like the way it was going but he also didn't want to back down and let them win. His decision was made for him however when the next text arrived:

From Nick: CURFEW!

Glancing at his phone he realised that he had 5 minutes until curfew and being late would just to add to his miserable evening. He ran across the grass reaching the double doors to Wilson House in record time and flew through the door. Everyone knew that while you could move around inside the house for about ten minutes after curfew time actually being caught outside of the building meant you were in big trouble. He was met with the grinning face of Damien Turner, one of the hall prefects.

"Ah Kurt, so good of you to join us and bang on time, nothing like cutting it to the wire" the prefect glanced down at his expensive gold watch.

…

Nick's eyes flew up from his geography homework and he visibly relaxed at the fact his roommate was back. "Hey," said Kurt with a sheepish smile, not sure what Nick's mood would be like. "Thanks for the text."

"No worries, where were you? We couldn't find you anywhere. You'd better text Blaine, he was freaking out"

"Oh I was just hanging out by the oak tree." Kurt grabbed his phone and sent Blaine a message to say he was back in the room.

"Wait, you were out of the building? I thought you were helping someone with an assignment?"

"I was but then I went for a walk. I just needed to clear my head, guess I've just given myself an even bigger headache!"

"Oh Kurt!" Nick jumped off the bed and gave the younger boy a hug. "You know you can always talk to me or ask me to leave if you need some peace. I can always hang out in Jeff's room or the common room. I'm sorry you felt that we had all ganged up on you earlier, it really wasn't our intention."

"I know, I'm just having a really crap day and it's not shaping up to be a great week. Anyway I'm pretty cold so I think I'll go take a shower and warm up before I go to sleep…..oh and finish the calculus which I remembered about. So shower, homework, sleep!"

…..

By morning Kurt definitely felt better, it was amazing what sleep could do. He and Nick both woke when Kurt's alarm went off and Kurt jumped out of bed calling first shower as he rushed to the bathroom. Nick lay back down in bed knowing he had plenty of time, Kurt's alarm was set 40 minutes before his so that Kurt had time to style his hair and moisturise his face. When the blue eyed boy came out to get his uniform on Nick slipped past him to have his shower. Once Kurt was ready he began to pack his bag and noticed he had several new texts. Opening his phone he saw some were sent last night and some this morning and with a deep breath opened the first one to start reading.

From Blaine: Glad you're safe, get some sleep.

From UNKNOWN: Nothing more to say, too much of a girl to fight back?

From UNKNOWN: Wow for such a mouthy bitch you don't have much staying power.

From UNKNOWN: Want to know whose room Blaine snuck into last night? Didn't come out for quite a while either!

From UNKNOWN: He's finally realised being gay means he wants a man not a pretend girl.

From UNKNOWN: Oh Princess Kurt, our game is just getting interesting!

The last three texts had been sent that morning and all implied Blaine was with someone but as far as Kurt knew he wasn't. Regardless of what they had said about Blaine they also said the game was just starting, what did that mean? Kurt wanted this to be over, he wasn't prepared to play games. This was all too much and he didn't know what to do.

He always thought it was someone who knew him but now he was certain. His mind whirled through possibilities but he really didn't want to believe it was one of his friends. Blaine, Nick and Jeff were so close to him he couldn't fathom that they would be behind it and Trent was always so sweet that he didn't think he would be able to talk in that way. Matthew was always very friendly when they were in a group and he was a good laugh when they were studying together so it didn't seem likely that he was behind it either. It was all too much and his stomach turned somersaults as he ran through these possibilities again, none of it made sense.

All the air seemed to leave the room and Kurt took off his blazer and removed his tie trying to get breath. He sat on the edge of the bed turning his phone over in his hands as if some kind of clue would suddenly appear. He had faced plenty of bullies before but that was usually face to face, the ones who phoned and called him a fag stayed hidden behind their phones and posed little actual threat. The others like Karofsky made sure he knew who was slamming him into the locker or throwing him in a dumpster. These texts messages though were something different and he didn't know how to handle that.

"Kurt, what's happened?" Nick asked as he came out of the bathroom to find his friend shaking and crying and muttering, "No, no stop," over and over. Without saying anything Kurt rushed into the bathroom, pushing Nick out of the way and slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. Within seconds Nick heard retching and so did the first thing he thought of, he called Blaine.

"Blaine, get over here now…Yes I know you're getting ready but something's wrong with Kurt…No I don't know, he was fine before I went into the shower and now he's crying and yelling and is currently vomiting."

Nick took the few moments between his call and Blaine's arrival to pull on some clothes. As he finished buttoning his pants there was a sharp knock at the door before it flew open and a very concerned tenor rushed in.

"Where is he?" he asked, his eyes scanning the room as he looked round.

"Still in the bathroom," Nick replied quietly and just at that moment the bathroom door opened and an extremely pale Kurt stepped out. Blaine ran over and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"What happened? Are you alright? Do you need the nurse? Do you want…." Nick gently prised Blaine off Kurt and led the blue eyed boy over to his own bed, while using silent eye signals to indicate Blaine should calm down and breathe. Having calmed down slightly Blaine started again. "Are you feeling better or do you want to go and see the nurse? Maybe you should take the day off and just rest." Finally stopping Blaine took a good look at his friend and couldn't help but feel shocked at how pale he was apart from his eyes which were all red and puffy.

"Guys I'm fine," Kurt mumbled quietly. "Now we had better get a move on or we'll all be late."

As Kurt stood up and began to refasten his tie Nick and Blaine exchanged puzzled looks. Clearly Kurt was not fine but they could also tell that he was not going to say more so with silent nods they agreed to get ready and keep an eye on the boy. Blaine gave Kurt another quick hug and then left the room to finish getting ready calling, "See you at breakfast in five," as he closed the door.

Nick and Kurt got ready in a tense silence, both hyper aware of what the other was doing. Just as Kurt finished putting his blazer back on there was another cheep from his phone. Aware that Nick was watching him he reached over to his bed and picked up the mobile, willing his hands not to shake too much as he did. As he read the message he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and waved his phone at Nick, "It's Jeff and I quote, 'both you cuties need to get your butts down to breakfast before you miss out altogether.'"

"Well are you ready?" With a nod from Kurt, "C'mon then, let's start this wonderful day of learning!"


	6. Chapter 6

**OK, I'm sorry. I said this chapter wouldn't be long and at the time I meant it. As we know life gets in the way! It's not as long as I planned but I decided I needed to get something out rather than keep you all waiting.**

When they reached the dining hall the boys split as Kurt moved over to get some fruit and Nick wanted to grab some toast and cereal. As Kurt reached over to pick up a yogurt he bumped into Nathan again as they both reached for the same tub. Kurt moved his hand off and over to another one and as he did so he could see Nathan watching him closely. Deciding it would be better to be nice rather than bitchy Kurt smiled and asked, "Did you manage to finish your history homework?"

"Oh no it was fine, only took a few more minutes."

"Well that's good." Kurt went to move away but Nathan put his hand on the older boy's arm and opened his mouth several times, clearly trying to formulate the sentence.

"Kurt, I wanted to ask…"

"Oi Kurt, you planning on ever joining us," yelled Jeff from across the room and he pointed at his watch.

"Better go," Kurt smiled at Nathan and grabbing his yogurt and fruit salad ran over to the table to join his friends. He sat down between Blaine and Nick who were both giving him concerned looks but he purposely ignored them in favour of starting his yogurt. Jeff chattered on to David about a film he wanted to see and Wes was pouring over some official looking show choir letters and if the three noticed something was wrong they didn't mention it.

The warning bell rang and all around the room boys began to clear their trays, pick up books and bags and the noise and movement in the room increased greatly. Kurt quickly finished the last of his fruit salad pointlessly hoping that Blaine and Nick would dash off to class but of course they were both holding back. By the time Kurt had thrown his rubbish in the trash Blaine was standing by the door with both bags and a look that said 'don't think we're not talking'.

"Thanks," the taller boy muttered taking his bag from Blaine. "Well I'd better dash, chemistry is at the other end of the school, see you later," and he tried to leave. Blaine grabbed his elbow and pulled him into an alcove just past the dining hall before holding him at arm's length clearly studying the chestnut haired boy's face.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Kurt nodded his head, "Well we don't have time to talk just now so as long as you're sure you are feeling fine then we can talk about it later. You'd better hurry or you'll be late." With that Kurt rushed to chemistry while Blaine made his way towards geography.

…..

Kurt arrived at chemistry just as the bell rang and while Dr Morris frowned at him he wasn't actually late so was safe from getting a tardy mark. He slid into his seat next to Nick silently and grabbed his book. As the teacher started talking Nick leaned over and whispered, "Feeling better?"

"I'm fine, I told you earlier." The look Nick gave him made it very clear that he did not believe Kurt was fine but that he wasn't going to argue about it.

As the lesson continued Kurt found it hard to concentrate. Whoever was sending these messages was tapping into all his deepest insecurities. Someone knew when he had arrived back at Dalton, knew when he would be getting ready for class, that he had been home for the weekend. It was all very disturbing, his safe place at Dalton suddenly wasn't feeling so safe. He was just starting to think that it would be a good idea to change his phone number when he felt someone tapping his arm and looked up to see Nick standing next to him frowning.

"Lesson's over and Dr Morris wants to speak to you." Kurt looked across the room to see the short, grey haired man looking right at him with a very grim look. Quickly packing up his things Kurt made his way across the room while the rest of the class quickly exited. Nick was the last out and gave Kurt what he hoped was an encouraging smile as he left.

"You wanted to see me sir," Kurt asked politely.

"First you are seconds away from being late and then you choose to stare into space for the entire lesson. Is everything alright?"

_Well I'm getting weird, frightening text messages which are freaking me out and the guy that I have a huge crush on now thinks I'm a total idiot_, thought Kurt.

"Everything is fine sir," said Kurt, trotting out his regular response.

"Well in that case I have to assume that you already an expert in today's topic and did not need to pay attention so I look forward to the amazing paper that you will be handing in on Friday." Kurt knew his face must be scarlet as he looked at the floor, thoroughly embarrassed at being spoken in this way. "One last thing Mr Hummel, if you ever pay so little attention in my class again you can rest assured I will not be so lenient. You're dismissed, try to make it to the rest of your classes on time."

Kurt walked out of the class as quickly as he could fighting to keep back tears, the warning bell had already rung for the next lesson so he didn't have time for a meltdown in the bathroom. Instead he had to run (well walk as quickly as possible, one did not run in the halls of Dalton) to his next class which thankfully was art. Making it into the room just as the bell rang he threw himself onto his stool next to Jeff and pulled out his sketchpad.

Jeff threw him concerned looks all through the teacher's spiel about the different techniques used across the decades for using shading and Kurt was pretty sure he saw him texting, no doubt asking Nick what had happened in chemistry. Finally the teacher stopped talking and the boys were given the choice of different materials to draw a still life of a bowl of fruit focussing on shading. As soon as she had finished the teacher disappeared into her office and Jeff turned to Kurt, "Everything OK?"

"Well I'm sure you've already had the story from Nick so why are you bothering to ask," came back the snarky reply.

"Fine, pardon me for caring!" and with that Jeff jumped out of seat and crossed the room to get some charcoal for his drawing. Kurt took a deep breath and felt terrible, he shouldn't have replied like that but he was sick of people asking if he was alright when he knew perfectly well he wasn't. Try as he might he couldn't get those messages out of his head. As Jeff sat back down, turning his body away from the thin boy Kurt took his chance.

"Jeff, I'm sorry I shouldn't have snapped."

"It's fine," came the reply but Jeff still wasn't looking at him.

"No really I've just…"

"Really it's fine but I need to get going on this." The blonde Warbler answered before focussing all his attention back on his fruit picture. Clearly Jeff was not going to say any more to him during this lesson so with a heavy heart Kurt focussed his energy onto his own work, at least this was one class where he didn't have to work too hard as drawing came quite naturally to him.

….

At the end of the lesson Jeff was up and out the door before Kurt had even stood up. There was a twenty minute break before the next class started and usually the four friends met up in the Warbler practise room but Kurt knew he couldn't face that today. Jeff was clearly still pissed at him which presumably meant Nick would be too and Blaine would want to talk about what had happened that morning. Deciding the library was probably the safest place to hide out Kurt picked up his bag to leave but his plans were thwarted when he stepped out of the room to find Blaine waiting for him.

Without any preamble Blaine grabbed the slight boy's arm and pulled him down the corridor and into an empty classroom. Once in Blaine locked the door, dropped his bag to the floor and took a seat on one of the desks indicating that Kurt should take the opposite one. Both boys just looked at each other, neither sure how to start. Kurt's mind was whirling trying to decide how to explain to Blaine when he was aware the dark haired boy had started talking, "so now I'm getting really concerned that you are making yourself ill."

"Sorry, what?"

"Making yourself vomit Kurt, it's a serious issue. You could really harm your body and I don't want to see you get hurt. Bulimia is a real problem for boys as well as girls and you can end up with health concerns that will last forever." Kurt felt his cheeks burning as Blaine lectured him but looking into the hazel eyes he could see genuine concern and he felt nauseous at the thought he had worried his friend so much. The lead Warbler was on a roll explaining the damage he could do to his throat and voice as Kurt tried to find a moment to interrupt.

"Blaine…Blaine I'm not….I don't…." The dark haired boy walked over and wrapped his arms around the taller boy.

"Kurt, you don't need to be embarrassed, lots of people think it's an easy answer but it's dangerous. Look we'll get you help, I'll be right there with you and I know the other Warblers will support you too."

"But I don't need help!" He could feel himself becoming more frustrated as he couldn't get Blaine to listen and then he realised what the boy had said. "Wait, you said an easy answer, easy answer to what?"

Blaine's eyebrows shot up, clearly not expecting the question, "Well to losing weight of course, why else would you do it?"

"To lose weight! You think I need to lose weight? You were moaning at me last week about not eating enough."

"Exactly and now you think you've found a better way but it's not. There is really only one sensible way to lose…. "

Everyone knew that Blaine could be oblivious to what was happening around him sometimes and he really was horrible at reading body language which was a shame because he never knew when to give up. Kurt pushed himself away and almost laughed at the shocked expression on the shorter boy's face. Grabbing his bag from where he had left it on the desk Kurt rushed over to the classroom door and unlocked it as quickly as he could trying to control his anger in case he gave in to his desire to throw something at his naïve friend. As he opened the door he turned back to where Blaine was standing, frozen to the spot and the cutest crinkle between his eyebrows, 'no' thought Kurt, channel your anger.

"For the record Blaine, now that you've shut up, I am not bulimic nor do I need to lose weight. Also I'd avoid thinking about medicine as a career, you're a horrible listener." With that he slammed the door shut and hurried off towards his French class, he might as well be early for his next lesson.

…

French had never dragged so much, he could hardly concentrate and only managed to answer correctly on one of the three questions that his teacher asked him. He took his time packing up his books at the end of the lesson while internally moaning at the fact he had extra homework as he hadn't managed to finish his translation during the class time.

As he stepped into the corridor he was soon engulfed by the noise and movement which filled the school every lunchtime. There was a buzz of freedom and camaraderie between groups of friends all around but Kurt had never felt so alone. He knew he couldn't face going to the dining room with everyone else. It was too boisterous, too loud and clearly his so called friends would all be there.

Thinking about Blaine's accusation he didn't know whether he wanted to cry or scream. No doubt by now Blaine would have shared his thoughts with Nick and Jeff, if not Matthew and Trent too. They would all be watching every mouthful he ate, following him when he left the table and never trusting him to be alone.

Suddenly it felt as if the walls were moving towards him and sucking all the air out the space around him and he just had to get out. When did everything get so serious, so real? When did his dream life at Dalton become even more suffocating than his existence at McKinley? His initially thought was to go back to his dorm room but he knew Blaine and Nick would check there first and after his confession the previous night about being at the oak tree it wouldn't take Nick long to think of looking there either.

Pushing through the crowds heading towards the lure of lunch Kurt hurried over to his dorm room and quickly changed. Boys didn't cut class at Dalton so moving around in a Dalton uniform during school hours would always draw suspicion. He grabbed his car keys and bag and ran to the car park. Jumping into his trusty Navigator Kurt started the engine and turned right out of the gates and just drove.


End file.
